Mop wringer

ABSTRACT

A mop wringer for a device for cleaning wet floors has a fixed squeezing plate which is positioned between wringer sidewalls. A movable squeezing plate is pivoted to the sidewalls. An actuating lever is configured as a two-armed lever with a shorter lever arm and a longer arm. The actuating lever is connected to the movable squeezing plate by the shorter lever arm and a push guide. A pressing action is carried out by pivoting the actuating lever away from the movable squeezing plate. In the final pressing position, the push guide forms an almost extended toggle lever joint with the shorter lever arm.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mop wringer for a device for cleaningwet floors. In particular, the invention relates to a mop wringer havinga fixed squeezing plate connected to sidewalls of the wringer and havinga pivoted, movable squeezing plate engaged with a push guide which isconnected to an actuating lever mounted on the wringer sidewalls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mop wringers are used to wring out absorbent, water-saturated mopmaterial. Typically, mop wringers are placed at the top of a watercontainer which is open at the top and holds the cleaning water, or theyform a unit with such a container.

The mop to be wrung out is placed from above in an open pressing spacebetween a fixed squeezing plate and a movable squeezing plate. To wringout the mop, the movable squeezing plate is pressed toward the fixedsqueezing plate by a swiveling motion of the actuating lever.

In the case of a known mop wringer (disclosed in EP 824 008 A2), themovable squeezing plate is moved horizontally and in parallel.

For this purpose, guideways are provided in the sidewalls of thewringer. The actuating lever is attached on one end to the wringersidewalls. At a distance from this attachment, a push guide, which isattached to the backside of the moveable squeezing plate, is pivotinglyattached to the actuating lever. In response to a swiveling motion ofthe actuating lever towards the movable squeezing plate, the movablesqueezing plate is pushed against the fixed squeezing plate by the pushguide, in order to wring out the mop therebetween.

In the case of another mop wringer of the species defined at the outset(DE-GM 94 13 604), the movable squeezing plate performs a pivotingmotion. The actuating lever is mounted on the outside of one wringersidewall and is connected to a rocking shaft which connects both wringersidewalls. A lever, which is fastened to the rocking shaft between thetwo wringer sidewalls, is hinged to the push guide, which is engagedwith the squeezing plate.

Both known mop wringers have the common feature that in the startingposition, the actuating lever slants away from the squeezing plates andis tilted in a vertical position towards the squeezing plates whenperforming a pressing action. Thus, the actuating force exerted on theactuating lever essentially occurs almost horizontally. In this context,the water container holding the mop wringer must be sufficiently heavyand/or steady to prevent the container from tipping over as a result ofthis horizontal force. Therefore, such mop wringers can only be placedon water containers which form part of a sufficiently heavy cleaningcart. Thus, such mop wringers are not appropriate for use on light,portable water containers, such as cleaning buckets.

It is also not possible to satisfactorily solve this problem by changingthe starting position of the actuating lever, since the actuating levermust be laterally mounted on the outside of the wringer sidewalls as aresult of its predefined actuating direction. Every actuating forceexerted on the actuating lever is so far off-center in relation to thewater container that a tipping force is exerted on the water container.

The object of the present invention is to design a mop wringer in such away that the actuating force exerted on the actuating lever does notexert any significant tipping force on the water container carrying themop wringer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, this object is achieved bydesigning the actuating lever as a two-armed lever with a shorter leverarm and a longer arm. The shorter lever arm is hinged at its free end tothe push guide in such a way that tilting the longer arm of theactuating lever away from the movable squeezing plate tilts the movablesqueezing plate towards the fixed squeezing plate.

Because the swiveling motion of the actuating lever is directed awayfrom the movable squeezing plate, the movement of the lever is neitherhindered by the squeezing plates nor by the handle of the moptherebetween. Thus, the actuating lever can be symmetrically mounted onthe mop wringer so that no one-sided tipping forces are exerted on thewater container. Since sufficient space is available outside of the mopwringer for tilting the actuating lever, the direction of the actuatingforce can be designed in such a way that it is essentially directeddownward, i.e., towards the base of the water container, and, therefore,also does not exert a tipping force on the water container. As such, themop wringer can also be mounted on light, portable water containers,e.g., cleaning buckets, and used without danger, thereby making it alsosuitable for household use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a simplified vertical longitudinal section of a mop wringerin the starting position;

FIG. 2 shows the mop wringer according to FIG. 1 in the final pressingposition;

FIG. 3 shows a section corresponding to FIG. 1 of a transformedrefinement of a foot-operated mop wringer; and

FIG. 4 shows part of a section along the line IV—IV in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary embodiment of the mop wringer illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2is used for wringing out a mop (not shown) of a device for cleaning wetfloors. In this context, the mop preferably has a hard, flat centerhaving a wringable mop covering on both sides. A squeezing plate 2 issecurely attached between two wringer sidewalls 1, which are arranged ata distance to one another. The wringer sidewalls 1 are mounted on thetop edge of a water container 3, e.g., a cleaning bucket, or securelyattached to the water container 3.

On its bottom edge, the fixed squeezing plate 2 is provided with ahinged bearing 4. A movable squeezing plate 5 is pivoted to the hingedbearing 4. The two squeezing plates 2 and 5 are provided withperforations 6 and 7, respectively, and/or run-off grooves or the like.The water wrung out of the mop can exit and flow back into watercontainer 3 through the perforations 6, 7. When being pressed, thesqueezing plates 2 and 5 are preferably almost vertical.

An actuating lever 9, which is designed as a two-armed lever, ispivotingly attached to a hinged bearing 8 on the wringer sidewalls 1. Inthe starting position illustrated in FIG. 1, the actuating lever 9assumes a slant-wise rising position. At the unattached end of a longerlever arm 9 a, the actuating lever 9 forms a handle 10. A shorter leverarm 9 b of the actuating lever 9 is connected at its unattached end by ahinged bearing 11 to a push guide 12. The push guide 12 is engaged witha hinged bearing 13 on the backside of the movable squeezing plate 5.

An extension spring 14 is fastened to the wringer sidewalls 1, andengages from below with the region of hinged bearing 11, which connectsthe shorter lever arm 9 b to push guide 12. The extension spring forms areturn spring by which the actuating lever 9 is moved to the startingposition illustrated in FIG. 1.

The actuating lever 9 can be designed as a one-part, straight lever. Onthe other hand, it is also feasible for the actuating lever 9 to have atwo-part design so that two parallel legs are connected by atransversely running handle 10 to form a U-shaped bow piece.

After the mop to be wrung out has been introduced into the space betweenthe squeezing plates 2 and 5, the actuating lever 9, which is in thestarting position illustrated in FIG. 1, is pressed down in thedirection of arrow 15. By tilting the longer arm 9 a of the actuatinglever away from the movable squeezing plate 5, the movable squeezingplate 5 is tilted towards the fixed squeezing plate 2, thereby exertinga squeezing effect on the mop. In the final pressing position shown inFIG. 2, the push guide 12 forms an almost extended toggle lever jointwith the shorter lever arm 9 b. Therefore, the compression force exertedon the mop increases progressively during the pressing operation. In thepressing end position, the actuating lever 9 assumes an almosthorizontal position and lies, for example, on the top edge of the watercontainer 3, as shown in FIG. 2. If the handle 10 of the actuating leveris released, the return spring 14 returns the mop wringer to thestarting position illustrated in FIG. 1.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 differs from theexemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2 only in how theactuating force is exerted on the longer arm 9 a of the actuating lever9.

In this embodiment, a hinged bearing 16 connects the unattached end ofthe longer lever arm 9 a of the actuating lever 9 to a vertical rod 18.The vertical rod-18 is connected to a foot-actuated, stirrup-shapedpedal 17. The pedal 17 is arranged to move up and down in a lateralrecess 19 in the water container 3′, which includes the mop.

1. A mop wringer for device for cleaning wet floors comprising: wringersidewalls; a fixed squeezing plate attached to the wringer sidewalls; apivoted, movable squeezing plate attached to the wringer sidewalls; apush guide engaged with the movable squeezing plate; and an actuatinglever pivotably attached to the wringer sidewalls at an attachmentlocation and connected to the push guide, wherein the actuating lever isa two-armed lever with a shorter level arm arranged on a first side ofthe attachment location and a longer arm arranged on a second side ofthe attachment location opposite the first side, and the shorter leverarm is hinged at a free end to the push guide so that in response to aswivel motion of the longer arm of the actuating lever away from themovable squeezing plate, the movable squeezing plate is tilted towardsthe fixed squeezing plate.
 2. The mop wringer as recited in claim 1,wherein in the final pressing position, the push guide forms an almostextended toggle lever joint with the shorter lever arm of the actuatinglever.
 3. The mop wringer as recited in claim 1, wherein the actuatinglever assumes a slant-wise rising position in the starting position. 4.The mop wringer as recited in claim 1, wherein the actuating lever ismoved to the starting position by an extension spring.
 5. The mopwringer as recited in claim 1, wherein the actuating lever forms ahandle at the unattached end of the longer lever arm.
 6. The mop wringeras recited in claim 1, wherein the actuating lever has a two-part designforming two parallel legs, and the parallel legs are connected by atransversely running handle to form a U-shaped bow piece.
 7. The mopwringer as recited in claim 1, wherein the unattached end of the longerlever arm of the actuating lever is connected to a foot-actuatable,stirrup-shaped pedal.
 8. A mop wringer for a device for cleaning wetfloors comprising: wringer sidewalls; a fixed squeezing plate attachedto the wringer sidewalls; a pivoted, movable squeezing plate attached tothe wringer sidewalls; a push guide engaged with the movable squeezingplate; and an actuating lever pivotably attached to the wringersidewalls at an attachment location and connected to the push guide,wherein the actuating lever is a two-armed lever with a shorter leverarm arranged on a first side of the attachment location and a longer armarranged on a second side of the attachment location opposite the firstside, and the shorter lever arm is hinged at a free end to the pushguide so that in response to a swivel motion of the longer arm of theactuating lever away from the movable squeezing plate, the movablesqueezing plate is tilted towards the fixed squeezing plate, wherein theactuating lever assumes a nearly horizontal position in the finalpressing position.
 9. A mop wringer for a device for cleaning wet floorscomprising: wringer sidewalls; a fixed squeezing plate attached to thewringer sidewalls; a pivoted, movable squeezing plate attached to thewringer sidewalls; a push guide engaged with the movable squeezingplate; and an actuating lever pivotably attached to the wringersidewalls and connected to the push guide, wherein the actuating leveris a two-armed lever with a shorter lever arm and a longer arm, and theshorter lever arm in hinged at a free end to the push guide so that inresponse to a swivel motion of the longer arm of the actuating leveraway from the movable squeezing plate, the movable squeezing plate istilted towards the fixed squeezing plate; wherein the actuating lever ismoved to the starting position by an extension spring; and wherein theextension spring is fastened to wringer sidewalls, and engages frombelow in the region of a hinged bearing, said bearing connecting theshorter lever arm to the push guide.
 10. A mop wringer for a device forcleaning wet floors comprising: wringer sidewalls; a fixed squeezingplate attached to the wringer sidewalls; a pivoted, movable squeezingplate attached to the wringer sidewalls; a push guide engaged with themovable squeezing plate; and an actuating lever pivotably attached tothe wringer sidewalls and connected to the push guide, wherein theactuating lever is a two-armed lever with a shorter lever arm and alonger arm, and the shorter lever arm is hinged at a free end to thepush guide so that in response to a swivel motion of the longer arm ofthe actuating lever away from the movable squeezing plate, the movablesqueezing plate is tilted towards the fixed squeezing plate; wherein theunattached end of the longer lever arm of the actuating lever isconnected to a foot-actuatable, stirrup-shaped pedal; and wherein thepedal is arranged to move up and down in a lateral recess in a watercontainer.